


blue skies (call me if you wanna fix it)

by planetsoflove



Category: Chicken Girls (Web Series)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Gen, but this is mostly a harmony centric character fic, the gemma/rhyme is a side relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29446149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetsoflove/pseuds/planetsoflove
Summary: Harmony doesn’t like secrets. But when Leyla grabs her hand, or wraps her in a hug, or tells a joke only to look at Harmony to see if she's laughing, that all feels too personal to share.
Relationships: Harmony McAdams/Leyla, Rhyme McAdams/Gemma
Kudos: 3





	blue skies (call me if you wanna fix it)

“Rhyme?” Harmony asks after the competition—after her sister has finished monologuing about college applications and now has unfaltering interest on the peeling glow-in-the-dark stars on Harmony’s ceiling—“How do you know when someone likes you?”

Rhyme smirks. Turns her head to look at Harmony, who twists the corner of her pillowcase. “Does someone have a crush?”

“No. I don’t know.” Rhyme raises an eyebrow. “I’m not sure.” Rhyme places a hand on Harmony’s knee, a compassionate smile crossing her face.

“I’m sure whoever he is, he’ll be willing to wait for you to figure it out.” Harmony pulls the fabric further around her fingers. Rhyme moves her head to look back at Harmony’s ceiling, the brief moment between them already gone. Harmony gets it, though. Rhyme is nothing but predictable.

\----

Harmony doesn’t like secrets. But when Leyla grabs her hand, or wraps her in a hug, or tells a joke only to look at Harmony to see if she's laughing, that all feels too personal to share.

So, when the four McAdamses sit down at dinner, and her Mom asks if anything exciting happened today, she skips over Leyla showing up to the dance competition, and she just talks about how she’s excited to be able to practice a different routine, finally. Harmony’s social life is still going great, thank you for asking. Nothing to worry about. She’s an actress. She’s an actress first, and if the scene wants her to lie, if the scene needs her to keep a secret, she knows how to.

\----

Rhyme drives Harmony to school, which means she’s normally at the middle school an hour before it starts, since Rhyme is the captain of the cheer team now. Which is normally fine, since the computer lab is open.

Of course, today, Leyla is there. “I didn’t know you still worked for the Appeal?” is all Harmony can say when she sees Leyla.

Leyla shrugs. “It’s kinda fun. And Rooney’s cool, so.” She returns her attention to the computer screen. Harmony rocks on her feet in the doorway. She walks to a computer in a different row than Leyla, hoping they can each just work on their projects. She swings her backpack onto the floor and turns on a monitor. “Are you mad at me?” Leyla asks, chair squeaking as she leans over to look at Harmony. So much for that.

“No. I’m just busy.” Harmony replies, typing in her login. She wasn’t mad at Leyla, but she was ignoring her. It was like everything had flipped, and gotten more complicated. Like they were already rolling on the first scene of the day and she'd never gotten a rehearsal.

She’s not sure when things got so complicated. If it was when she left to do _Hotel Du Loone,_ when she got sent to Millwood, when Leyla came out, or if it was when Harmony realized that none of her friends liked her that much.

“Do you want to hang out today?” Leyla asks.

“I can’t.”

“Busy. Right.”

Harmony opens her email. She taps her leg, thinking.

\----

Gemma calls Rhyme on the way to school one day. It rings through the speakers, and as Rhyme accepts it, Harmony sees her sister’s knuckles tighten.

“Hey, I’m in the car with Harmony. Can I call you back?” Rhyme says, slowing down for a stop sign.

Harmony sighs. She likes Gemma. She likes that when Rhyme talks to her, or about her, she feels like Harmony’s sister again, instead of the deflated version of her that’s been floating around the house since September.

“Hi Harmony! Yeah. Call me whenever.”

The line ends. Music from Rhyme’s phone fills the car again.

“It’s cool that you and Gemma still talk.” Harmony remarks, as casually as possible. Rhyme’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel.

“She’s a good friend.” Rhyme replies.

“You seem happier when she’s around.”

Rhyme looks back to Harmony, searching. Harmony smiles at her. Rhyme clears her throat. “She’s a good friend, Harmony.”

\----

Harmony apologizes to Jordan. It doesn’t feel like the right thing to do, but it’s certainly the easiest thing to do. She doesn’t want to think about it. She’s tired. And Jordan likes her.

Jordan is nice. Leyla is her friend. Her friends got along with Jordan, and he had made it painfully obvious that he liked Harmony. So, why not, really? What was she supposed to do?

She smiles at him.

\----

In the grand scheme of things, Harmony knows that whatever Rhyme is going through is _bigger_ that the middle school drama of Harmony’s life. She knows her sister claims to still be close with the Chicken Girls, but their existence feels more like an ancient myth than anything that used to be reality. Rhyme was still captain of the cheer team and her grades were fine, so she was still, in essence, Rhyme McAdams, the coolest, most popular girl in Attaway. It just didn't feel that way to Harmony. Since the spring, it was like Rhyme had deteriorated into a vague concept of who she used to be. Is that high school? Or is that just what happens when who you're supposed to be doesn't line up with who you are?

Rhyme occupies the bathroom for an hour in the morning, perfecting her hair, re-doing her makeup, second guessing her fashion choices. Harmony shuffles to the downstairs bathroom, still half asleep, and just grateful that her parents have already left for work.

She works quickly to fix her hair and do her makeup, but with much less intensity than Rhyme. She just wants to get to school. She marches back upstairs, and raises a hand to knock on Rhyme’s bedroom door when she hears her talking.

“Next Tuesday, right? Yeah, my parents are working all week.” Rhyme says. Harmony lowers her hand and leans in closer to the door. Rhyme laughs. Her voice and her laugh are light. Happy. “I gotta go, Harmony is probably waiting.”

Harmony scrambles back down the stairs. She lands on the tiles of the kitchen when she hears Rhyme’s door creak open.

She opens Instagram. A picture of her and Jordan fills her screen. He’d posted it with the caption: Arcade date!!! Her friends had already liked it, and Bel had been sure to flood the comments with emojis.

“Ready to go?” Rhyme asks, grabbing an apple from the basket. Harmony turns her phone off and shoves it into her backpack. She follows Rhyme out the door.

\----

Harmony packs up her bag after English, when Claire grabs her and pulls her into an empty classroom.

“Jeez! Hello, much?” Harmony says, putting a hand against the wall to catch herself before she falls.

“Hello, Harmony.” Claire shuts the door behind them, blocking out the noise of the other middle schoolers passing through. “You’ve been avoiding us.”

Claire was never one to hold back.

“No. I’m not. I’ve been busy with family stuff. ” Rhyme needed more help than Harmony can give her, but Claire doesn’t need to know that. Claire doesn’t move. She raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”

Claire scans Harmony’s face. “You’ve been avoiding Jordan, too.”

“How do you know that?”

Claire shrugs. “Just a detective’s hunch. Whatever it is, we’re friends, right? Me, you, Bel, and Leyla. I thought the whole point of that it is to talk to each other. Are you not our friend anymore?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then you need to start acting like it. Or at least reply to our texts.”

Claire is unflinching. Her confidence is impressive, a far cry from the girl who let Eggie cheat off of her for a semester.

“I have to get to class, Claire.” Harmony runs a hand against the straps of her backpack. Claire steps aside from the doorframe.

“You should call Leyla.” Claire remarks, after Harmony’s stepped past her. Harmony stops, hand stuck on the doorknob. “She won’t admit it, but she misses you the most.”

Harmony bites the inside of her cheek. She pulls the door open and steps into the flurry of students.

\----

Gemma arrives the first Tuesday of winter break. Rhyme might be glowing, she’s so happy. Harmony loves it. It's nice to have her sister back and to get driven around town by someone that isn't as erratic of a driver as Rhyme is.

She stays for dinner, one night, and it’s the first family dinner in a while that Harmony has a good time at. Gemma is a good storyteller, and Harmony lets herself get lost in stories about Yale. Her parents are too involved in the story to notice how Gemma’s hand holds Rhyme’s under the table, but Harmony doesn’t miss it for a second. She smiles.

\----

Harmony orders half a dozen pastries while she waits at Junior’s. She feels really grown up, doing it, and that thought lodges uncomfortably into her chest. She picks a table closer to the back of the room, with her back to the wall so she could watch the entrance for one of the girls. They all come in together, and Harmony fixes her posture. She waves. She picks a pastry from the middle and rips a piece off. They walk over to her and sit down reluctantly.

“I’m sorry for being a jerk. I shouldn’t have ignored you guys like I did.” The others take pastries, but wait for her to continue. Harmony takes a breath. “I’ve had a lot of family stuff going on. And when I was friends with Katie and Brittany we never talked about this stuff. I didn’t think you guys would notice.”

Bel touches a hand to Harmony’s forearm. “We’re your friends, Harmony. We’re always going to be here for you.”

“Even when you’re being a jerk.” Claire adds.

Leyla leans back in her chair, taking a bite of a croissant.

The next part of her speech feels like it’s stuck in her throat, but Harmony knows she needs to get it out. These are her friends, after all. “I broke up with Jordan. I don’t think I ever really liked him that much.” She presses her feet together under the table, trying to summon some kind of strength into her body. “I also think I’m bi.” She feels lighter after she says it, and looks right to Leyla, who has finally snapped to attention. Claire and Bel speak so quickly Harmony doesn’t think they even realize that they’re speaking over each other, but the words that she does catch are nothing but supportive, and kind. Leyla smiles at her, genuinely.

From there, the rest of their hangout is casual. Harmony laughs a lot, and she feels better than she has in a while.

Claire has to leave first, for a date with PK. Bel leaves shortly afterwards, claiming her parents wanted her to help them cook dinner.

It leaves Leyla and Harmony, alone for the first time since the computer lab. “I never thanked you for the uniforms.” Harmony says, after she finishes her hot chocolate. 

“You’re welcome.” Leyla says, smiling.

Harmony presses her foot against Leyla’s underneath the table. "I'm sorry. For taking so long to thank you"

Leyla shrugs. Junior’s has gotten quiet, most of the mid-afternoon crowd fading. Silence floats between Leyla and Harmony. Harmony missed this. She missed Leyla. Not more than she missed Claire and Bel, but differently. Leyla was her first genuine friend, even if Harmony’s messed it up more than a handful of times in the short time they’ve known each other.

“Do you want to go to the parlor tomorrow? With me?” Harmony asks.

Leyla pulls on her beanie, eyebrows furrowed together. “Just the two of us?”

“Yeah. Like a date.”

Leyla’s smile takes up her whole face. “Yeah. Tomorrow. I’d like that.” She laughs, then somehow smiles even more. “Cool.”

“Cool.” Harmony says. She reaches for Leyla’s hand across the top of the table. She smiles, and the two of them fall back into silence.


End file.
